Adding Wire to a Wood Fence Adding Wire to a Wood Fence

What You'll Need

Wire

Stapler

Heavy duty staples

What You'll Need

Wire

Stapler

Heavy duty staples

Sometimes a wood fence itself isn’t enough for your needs. If your wood fence is made up of posts and rails, then it won’t keep out animals and other pests effectively. To remedy that, the simplest solution is to add wire to your wooden fence. It’s not a complex job, especially if you know the right way to do it.

Step 1 - Type of Wire

The first thing you need to establish is the type of wire you want on your wood fence. It might be simple, pliable chicken wire if you don’t have much of a problem. In other circumstances, you might need stronger wire or a finer mesh in order to keep your property secure.

Make your selection carefully, and make sure that the wire is the right height for the fence. If it’s too tall, you’ll need to use wire cutters to trim the wire to the correct height. You also need to calculate how much wire you’ll need for the job. Before you go shopping for the wire, establish the length of your fence. When purchasing wire, find out just how much wire is on a roll and then calculate how many rolls you’ll need to cover the wire fence, and buy the correct amount.

Step 2 - Starting

When you’re applying wire to the wood fence, begin on a fence post, ideally at a corner post. You want the wire to reach all the way to the ground so that it’s against the dirt. This will prevent creatures from burrowing underneath the wire.

The easiest way to fix the wire on the fence is with a staple gun that can handle heavy duty staples. You need heavy duty in order to withstand the weather and keep the wire taut against the wood. The alternative is to hammer staples in place, and using the staple gun will make the job progress far more quickly.

Step 3 - Stapling

Hold the wire in place on the fence and apply the first staples to the post. Wear heavy gloves for the job to protect your hands from the wire. Unroll a couple of feet of wire, pulling it taut, and then staple to the fence rails. Keep unrolling and stapling, allowing about 24 inches between staples. Keeping the wire pulled taut is important. Make sure the staples are firmly bedded in the wood so they’re not likely to work their way out over time. If any aren’t firm, apply another staple.

Step 4 - New Roll

If you require more than one roll of wire to cover your wood fence, you’ll need to overlap the old roll and new roll by about 8 inches. Staple down all the old roll, all the way to the end and then set up the new one, stapling from the beginning and continue around the fence, making sure to maintain the height and tautness. Keep going until you’ve covered the entire wood fence.